Archived under: Horn study | Trumpet
I Started on Trumpet
In 1973 I started sixth grade. That year I also started playing trumpet and this very book was the very first book I used: the First Division Band Method by Fred Weber. We just called it “the red book.”
My brother was sorting some music that was in storage in Kansas and sent this to me along with my original blue, gold, and purple books which are the volumes that follow the red book. I remember this book very well (note my terrible handwriting on the cover), and remember playing duets out of it and the books that followed with my dad that first year. I had no music lessons of any type before sixth grade other than singing at school and church.
A side-topic I would throw out there is a topic I have observed in my teaching. Among my students over the years about half started on horn and about half started on something else. Of those, about half started on trumpet and the other half started on a woodwind. It would be interesting to see a Doctoral student do a project where they looked at what instrument professional horn players started on and when. My guess is the stats would be similar to what I just outlined, but it would be interesting to know firm data on the topic. Because how you started and on what instrument certainly has an impact on your embouchure and the potential need for an embouchure change. In my case I certainly had some major work to do, which I will elaborate on further tomorrow.
Related to this article
- A Trumpet Mouthpiece I can Manage
For years and years I felt that I simply sounded awful on trumpet. This year however with the retirement of our longtime trombone professor Gail Wilson I took over leading the brass methods classes and with that, I also checked out a trumpet to give it... - Trumpet Video: Tre-Méndez
One unique thing we have at the Arizona State University School of Music is the Rafael Méndez Library, in honor of the legendary trumpet soloist, of which the online version may be found here. As is noted there, “The Library was established for the purpose of... - Two Things from a Trumpet Class
I often say that you can pick up a lot from other brass players. Soloist and Arizona State University Regents Professor of trumpet David Hickman gave on Wednesday a version of his presentation/demonstration for the ITG conference this summer for our Brass Area. In it there... - Video: High Note Trumpet National Anthem
One question I was asked recently was about some of the “Random Links” in the links list at the Horn Notes Blog. Were they just randomly generated? No, actually they were items I found interesting for various reasons but certainly were a random grouping. One of... - Be Somebody
I am on The MelloCast again this week, episode 23, joining in the discussion of the topic of woodwind players and the mellophone. Part of the topic for me was I have had good students who switched to the horn from the flute, oboe, and saxophone,... - What Horn Players Think About Trumpet Players
This week I led a brass sectional with the ASU Symphony Orchestra brass section. At the end of the sectional I was asked I believe jokingly by a trumpet player a question something like “what do horn players think about trumpet players.” At first I gave... - Can You Play Trumpet and Horn?
I received a question from a reader that noted I taught horn and trumpet when I taught in Taiwan for a year. He was asking what I did in terms of mouthpieces and doubling? This type of question comes up pretty often and I don’t believe...
The Usability of Data and Feedback
